Decent lenses for Astrophotography with the Nikon D3200

[Markstar]

Hey, y'all!!!

I would appreciate any advise on this topic, having had my brain frazzled by numerous lens reviews and techy descriptions...

I have been using the standard kit lens (AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm DX) that came with my D3200, to shoot constellations and star trails over the summer. I've been pretty happy with the results but this lens is not so good for the Milky Way. I am aware that the awesome pics in published books/articles were most likely taken with lenses in the high-end of the market, but are there any decent lenses available for a few hundred quid...? I've read a few decent reviews only to then read that they aren't best matched with my camera due to the cropped sensor of the D3200, etc... 

I know Milky Way season is almost over now... But of course we have the mighty winter constellations coming up, so would like to be able to show them off a bit better...!

Many Thanks & Regards,

Mark

[Digz]

Shooting AP with a Nikon is always going to be a struggle. Not impossible but very challenging.

I would be tempted to look at getting a 50mm f1.8 (there is a more expensive version at f1.4 but I have the f1.8 and enjoy it) to do some wide field stuff.

What kind of shots do you want to take? Long exposure AP needs some form of tracking to prevent trailing otherwise your sub length will be reduced.

[idigitize]

I really like the Tokina 11-16 2.8. a great lens for astro and daytime. Adding a 50mm 1.8 would be good too. For longer stuff you might find an older model 80-200 2.8 for a few hundred, but may only manual focus on a d3200. fine for astro of course.

It probably depends how tight you want to frame a constellation? But if Milky Way shots are a big interest… the Tokina would be my first choice.

[ronin]

I suspect that what you refer to as better is a prime lens of a fixed focal length?

These tend to give better results.

If the prime lens if for a full frame (36mm) sensor then you have the choice of going with that and having part of the image off the sensor BUT what is on the sensor will be flatter across the sensor, or getting a lens for a cropped sensor and getting the full field but possibly haviing the image not flat at the edges.

Most would seem to go for the 50mm prime lens, although with a cropped sensor a 35mm or close may be better.

[rob0971]

Samyang 14mm f2.8. 300 quid ish. Read the reviews, best bang for your buck you can get without buying a 14-24 f2.8 Nikkor. I have one & can vouch for it on my D4.

[MyRomeo]

Amazon have the Nikon 35mm f1.8 afs for £125 at the moment, astro aside it's a cracking all round lens and works great for wide field astro shots too

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Are you just shooting from a fixed tripod or do you have a tracking mount? If the former you should probably stick to wide-angle lenses, at 50mm you'd get trailing after about 6 seconds which would greatly limit what you can pick up. I've seen some good shots taken with the Samyang 14mm f2.8, there are a couple in the widefield gallery I believe on the first or second page.

Another option is to use your existing kit lens on a tracking mount, upping the exposure time will compensate for the low light transmittance compared to a nice prime lens.

[Markstar]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, guys.

I don't have a tracking mount. I currently shoot at 30 secs/ISO 3200, but usually stick to the widest angle (ie 18mm of my Kit lens) so trailing is not an issue. Another thing that I don't quite get is that usually I also have to set my aperture at f5.6 to f7.1 so my foreground is still reasonably well focused. However everything I read always recommends shooting at your widest possible aperture so that you capture as much light as possible. And the pics I see in astro mags seem to state that they have been shot at very wide apertures, yet the foreground of these pics still seems pretty sharp.

is this simply because they are using awesome lenses/cameras, or am I missing something...? 

In regard to the Milky Way, I was wondering if stacking lots of individual shots on photoshop would help, if I reposition each layer slightly to compensate for the star movement (probably a challenge?). I use Starstax for my star trails, but I assume this wouldn't be an option for stacking a still image due to the star movement from my tripod...

Good job the stars are not going away any time soon...

Cheers

Mark

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Deep Sky Stacker (free software) can handle stacking images taken from a fixed tripod, it aligns the subs automatically for you.

[ollypenrice]

On a tracking mount I used a Samyang 85 for this shot, though subs were 10 minutes and it's a 6 panel mosaic with 10 hours per panel. Still, it shows that the Samyang is a decent performer. ( I have very few lens images in my lineup but, to be honest, this makes me wonder why because I was happy with this. I'd like to do Cygnus in the same way. ) Primes do beat zooms without doubt.

Olly

[tingting44]

On a tracking mount I used a Samyang 85 for this shot, though subs were 10 minutes and it's a 6 panel mosaic with 10 hours per panel. Still, it shows that the Samyang is a decent performer. ( I have very few lens images in my lineup but, to be honest, this makes me wonder why because I was happy with this. I'd like to do Cygnus in the same way. ) Primes do beat zooms without doubt.

Olly

thats insane! a 60 hour mosaic! hats off to you sir

[ollypenrice]

thats insane! a 60 hour mosaic! hats off to you sir

Well, the lens fits the OP's request for a lens at 'a few hundred quid.' That's the Samyang 85.

Olly

[lensman57]

Hey, y'all!!!

I would appreciate any advise on this topic, having had my brain frazzled by numerous lens reviews and techy descriptions...

I have been using the standard kit lens (AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm DX) that came with my D3200, to shoot constellations and star trails over the summer. I've been pretty happy with the results but this lens is not so good for the Milky Way. I am aware that the awesome pics in published books/articles were most likely taken with lenses in the high-end of the market, but are there any decent lenses available for a few hundred quid...? I've read a few decent reviews only to then read that they aren't best matched with my camera due to the cropped sensor of the D3200, etc... 

I know Milky Way season is almost over now... But of course we have the mighty winter constellations coming up, so would like to be able to show them off a bit better...!

Many Thanks & Regards,

Mark

If possible stick to the prime lenses. I have a nikon 85mm F1.8 AFD from my photography days ( I used to be a semi pro ) and it is superb even wide open but I have never used it for AP. I also have a Nikon  180mm f2.8 AIS ED that others have used very successfully for AP. You can google for it to see the results possible from this lens but this one is not a cheap lens. Here is a link to the article, just ignore the bit about it being a bargain @ $900.00.http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/EQ_TESTS/NIKON_180MM.HTM

A.G